My heart was pounding as I brushed the excess sand off the jar, and it wasn't because I was risking trespass charges. It was because I knew there was a chance I was risking my life. Once I screwed the lid on, I frantically brushed my gloves off on my pant leg, and then did the best I could to shake the stuff off my pants. A little voice in my head told me that trying to decontaminate myself was futile, that if I had been smart I would have come here equipped with a mask. It could already be in my lungs.

"Safety," an original play by the Ithaca Civic Ensemble about community-police relations, will be performed at Ithaca College at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26 in Textor 101.